“Beautiful,” he murmured.

“I was always afraid you’d find me sort of plain, only having the one tattoo.”

He smiled and tugged her hands over his head, settling them around his neck. “Every artist loves a blank canvas. At least, this one does.”

Exhaling in a rush, she pressed herself to him, rejoicing in the feel of her ni**les rasping against his shirt. “Do you want me to get more of them?”

“Only if you want more. And only if I do them.”

Smoothing the hair back from her forehead, he dropped his lips to hers, his breathing ragged as she opened her mouth to invite the invasion of his tongue. She’d been starving for another taste of him. The slick warmth of his kiss reignited the fire he’d so briefly quenched earlier in the truck, and she clung to him and whimpered in abandon. He smelled of rainwater and the day’s heat and musky male, sending her hormones into overdrive.

“I missed you so much,” she said between mouthfuls of his dark sweetness. His hands slid down to cup her face and he drew away.

“Don’t ever run away from me again.” There was no menace about the words; it was more of a plea. But given the possessiveness in his hands, his thumbs tilting up her chin so the darkness in his eyes could burn her deep, she swallowed thickly and trembled.

“What if I do?”

His gaze roamed over her face. “I won’t let you get away so easily.”

“Promise?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Good. I’ve been a mess. I haven’t been able to concentrate in class or—”

“Sweetheart, don’t let yourself get all f**ked up over me. All you have to do is call, and I’ll come running. I was only giving you the space I thought you wanted.”

She shook her head adamantly. “I don’t want it. I didn’t want it then, I only thought…”

“Shhh.” He laid a finger against her lips. “It’s okay.”

She had to tell him what she’d done. She kept forgetting, kept believing everything had worked out, only to remember…

It was hard to remember anything when he kissed her as he did then. Slow, deep, wet. She was aching, pulsing between her legs with every ragged throb of her heart.

Somehow he managed to back her into the bathroom while stripping off his clothes, only briefly breaking contact with her lips at any time. She did her best to help, tugging and shoving until he was naked. Her thong gave way to one vicious yank from his hand. He shoved the bra off her shoulders, palming both her br**sts and jamming her back into the wall with a snarl. She cried out and tried to climb him, sliding one leg up his hip. Needing him to catch it, lift her and…

This was out of hand. His c**k was hard and so, so big against her belly, sliding up between their feverish bodies. She knew in theory he would fit inside her, but sweet Jesus, she didn’t know how. The bead on the underside grazed her skin, and she couldn’t imagine how that was going to feel inside her.

Brian moved one hand to fumble inside the shower stall and crank on the water. Steam billowed, filling the bathroom until he adjusted it to make it tolerable. Then he helped her inside, and she wanted to groan with pleasure as the water fell over her skin in a hot rush. She was already crazed for his touch, but the spray invigorated her even further.

Her ni**les had been chafing against him. Now they were soothed by the smooth slickness of his chest. She whimpered, and his answering groan as his tongue slid into her mouth was the most purely male sound she’d ever heard. His arms came up to trap her against the wall, his hips leaning into her so that his c**k nestled against her abdomen again. She reached down to grasp it, gave it several loving strokes, but he didn’t let her play for long.

His mouth left hers, trailing down her chin and her throat, and she couldn’t resist reaching up to touch her lips. They felt bruised. Swollen and aching from his kisses. His mouth roamed over the swell of her breast, the tip of his tongue licking away the water as he kissed a path to her nipple. Candace let her hand flutter down to the top of his dark head as every breath she took pushed the taut crest toward his lips, just where she wanted it.

“God, I can’t get enough of you,” he murmured, just as the rosy tip disappeared into his mouth and she lost all ability to breathe. His palm came over to cup her other breast, as if he knew its weight had become almost unbearable, and he circled the center gently with his thumb. Beneath his lips, he was doing unspeakable things with his tongue and his teeth, sending little stinging jolts through her only to lick and soothe them away and do it all over again.

Between her legs she was drenched, the wetness slicking her inner thighs having nothing to do with the shower. She struggled to remain upright, and nearly lost that battle entirely when he switched from one nipple to the other. Could she come like this? The pressure couldn’t build much more or it would have to break.

His hands came up to steady her hips, which were involuntarily rolling against him. “Easy, baby.”

“Brian, I need to…”

“I know what you need.”

He’d been bent over to reach her. Now he slid to his knees. Oh, God. Her right hand scrabbled for the bar on the wall beside her, seeking some anchor. Her other fingers threaded through his hair. Brian gripped the back of her left knee and hiked her leg over his shoulder, opening her up inches away from his eyes. As if that weren’t enough, he used his thumbs to part her labia, leaving her fully exposed, and she sent a cry toward the ceiling and the stars beyond it.

Just as before, she feared she would fly apart the second his lips met her pu**y. He didn’t allow that to happen. His caresses were too soft, too light to bring her any relief, as he whispered into her recesses how good she tasted, how much he loved seeing her like this. How he couldn’t wait to get inside her. To make her his.

When his tongue found her entrance and dove inside, her knees quaked. He had to know she wasn’t going to last much longer standing, and it was downright cruel to make her do so. She wanted to be horizontal, beneath him, consumed by him. He didn’t care. He was relentless in arousing her to the breaking point, licking, swirling, pushing his tongue into her.

“I’m going to fall,” she whimpered.

“I’ve got you. You’re not going anywhere.” She felt the words as heated puffs of air against her wet flesh.

“Brian—”

His lips locked on her clitoris and he sucked mercilessly, wringing a gasp from her that stopped the words dead in her throat. It was an effective silencing strategy. She could no longer speak until he sucked the orgasm out of her, moaning against her and plunging two fingers inside her as she cried out and clamped down on him and writhed back against the wall. Her fingers’ desperate hold on the bar was the only thing that kept her standing.

After he’d wrung the last cry from her, he stood and put his hands on her hips, sliding them around to cup her ass and press her against him. It felt so good. She gazed up at him, her eyes heavy lidded. “I love it when you look at me like that,” he murmured, his fingers kneading into the plump flesh of her cheeks.

“How am I looking at you?” she managed.

“Like you want to eat me alive, but you don’t have a spoon.”

She giggled, running her hands over his chest. “That’s pretty dead on, I think.”